If you’ve ever delved into the world of Albania Twitter, you will have noticed that over the last few months, people have been writing in and changing their display names to a strange and rather wonderful font. This piqued my curiosity, and I was overjoyed when I discovered that this was Elbasan Script, an alphabet created just for the Albanian language.
Further research found two Albanians, computer scientist Arber Borici and architect and lover of Albanian aesthetics Lirim Kaptiaj, who were helping to spread the word.
Arber has been living in Canada for the last 25 years. With a passion for foreign languages and alphabets, he was fascinated when he happened across Albania’s unique scripts. Using his skills in computer science, he has created a prototype for an Elbasan Script keyboard and submitted the script to Unicode.
“Albania was primarily a spoken language, but in the 15th century, we have the first written Albanian document in the Latin alphabet. It was typically high society and specific individuals that would write it down. The engagement of Albanians in the Ottoman Empire then didn’t motivate developing an Albanian script. There was a lack of motivation to do it,” he said.
Therefore, many documents were written in Arabic, Latin, and some, in Cyrillic.
But then, the Elbasan Script was created in the mid 18th century at the monastery of St Jovan Vladimir, Shijon, just west of Elbasan. While there is some debate on who exactly created it, the consensus is that it was the work of Gregory of Durrës.
He was a professor, typographer, printer, teacher, and Eastern Orthodox Christian monk. It’s believed he authored the Elbasan Gospel Manuscript, which is the oldest piece of Albanian Orthodox literature in existence. He was born in 1701 in Voskopoja; he later founded a printing press there.
The script was created through a desire to avoid the influence of other scripts. At the time, Arabic, Greek, and Latin scripts had all been used to express the Albanian language. But the author decided to create a unique script that would reflect the wishes and needs of Albanian intellectuals.
As an alphabet, the language demonstrates a 1-2-1 correspondence between sounds and letters, which shows an exceptionally pure writing system in the linguistic world. The Albanian language in Latin script as used today is not 1-2-1 as it has 10 consonant digraphs.
Unfortunately, the script never rose to prominent use. There were attempts to bring it into the mainstream, but a lack of logistical ability, funding, and political will meant it all but died out. Recent attempts to engage the Ministry of Culture in the hopes of raising awareness have been ignored.
Borici noted that “it’s a pity they were never widely used. The intention in the 19th Century, of the Albanian renaissance as it were, was good. Writing is a cornerstone of civilization, and the intention was to intellectually raise awareness of the need to adapt to the reality of the Ottoman Empire failing. Our neighbors were becoming independent; we needed to catch up culturally and intellectually.”
Unicode accepted the script in 2014, so the Elbasan script can be used on all mobiles, computers, and software programs. This was a huge accomplishment for those involved, including Arber Borici.
“I hope that the alphabets will be revived, and they will be used symbolically or in legal texts. Even the numbers in legal paragraphs or a symbolic version of the constitution. To show the world a cultural aspect to the language that is wholly unique to Albania.”
“I sent a few emails to the Ministry of Culture in 2017. I never heard back from them, obviously,” he added.
“I hope one day they will pick it up and promote it.”
Another script that is worth noting is the Vithkuqi script. It was invented sometime between 1825 and 1845 by an Albanian scholar called Naum Veqilharxhi, and the name is derived from the village of Vithkuq in Korce, where he was born.
Veqilharxhi was a lawyer and scholar and is considered one of the most prominent figures of the Albanian National Awakening. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Albanian people gathered to solidify their cultural, political, and social identities.
The script was designed to be religiously neutral, eliminating any Greek, Latin or Arabic characters. The creator hoped that it would unite Albania, religion aside, and present a way of communication as unique as the Albanians themselves. It also has the perfect 1-2-1 correspondence of the Elbasan script.
The script has also been submitted to Unicode and is awaiting approval.
Sadly, like the Elbasan script, it never rose to prominence. This was due to the death of Veqilharxhi but also the high costs of cutting the type for the printing press. Some documents were published in the late 19th century, but it was ultimately overpowered by the very scripts it had hoped to replace.
There were other scripts created to express the Albanian language, including the Todhri script and the Vellara script. Again, neither was widely adopted, and they have remained the preserve of a few old documents.
Lirim Kapitaj, of Albanian origin but born in the US, created a stunning graphic of the Vithkuqi alphabet. A man with a passion for history, culture, and tradition, he felt inspired to create the image as he felt this was missing. The owner of a Twitter Page, Albanian Patterns that lovingly recreates traditional patterns using digital technology, it was a natural progression.
“It brought joy to me as I was contributing something for our history and people. If we go through history, Albanians have always been oppressed, be it from every empire that conquered us or our neighbors that stunted our growth and the progression of our language,” he said.
“It’s something that is unique and contributes to our own identity. This is something that’s our own, we should pass it on.”
It’s sad to hear that Albanian institutes don’t feel the same. While it’s unreasonable to suggest they switch to the Vithkuqi or Elbasan scripts, it seems sad that there is little interest in teaching about it or producing any ceremonial or official documents using the scripts. To have some public use of the scripts, even in a purely aesthetic way, would be a great way of showing pride in unique aspects of Albanian culture and heritage. Sadly, emails to the Ministry have been ignored and there has been no acknowledgment or interest from any political stakeholders.
The fear is that as more people leave the country and assimilate in other cultures and with a younger generation with limited interest in their history and traditions, these alphabets could be forgotten.
Meanwhile, a small group of Albanians in far corners of the world will continue to spread the word, write in the unique scripts, and hope that these fascinating writing systems don’t get lost in the sands of time.
